Dena Tollefson

Dena Tollefson (nee Dena Schaefer) is a native Iowa professional artist living and working in Cedar Rapids with her husband and two teenage sons.  Tollefson graduated from Iowa State University in 1988 and lived in Dallas Texas before returning to Iowa in 1991 where she developed her unique, highly textured oil painting style.

Tollefson is represented by four art galleries across Iowa and one in Illinois. She is a Certified Chartpak/Grumbacher  Fine Art  Painting Workshop Instructor.

Signature: Dena Tollefson's work is signed either D Tollefson or DENA, titles on reverse.

Her "Daubism" body of work is a unique process she developed, where "daubs" of individually mixed oil paint are applied with a palette knife. The largest daubs are applied with a serving spoon, allowing ridges of paint which catch the light and appear to dance and scintillate as the viewer moves past the painting.

Two of Dena Tollefson's paintings are in the permanent collection of the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. Corporate collections include: Mercy Hospital, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, St.Luke's Hospital, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, St. Luke's Hospice Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Farm Credit Services Omaha, Nebraska, and the Marion Art Council, Marion, Iowa. Tollefson completed a set of 4 commissioned paintings for the CEO of Starcom MediaVest in downtown Chicago. Her work hangs publicly and in private collections throughout the US.  She has exhibited nationally in juried shows in Texas, New York, California and Georgia and has won awards at the national and local level, as addition to participating in 16 gallery group shows.  She is a member of Allied Artists of America and the Oil Painters of America.